Every patient deserves to have their health information tell a complete and accurate story at every step in their care journey. As the leading advocate for the adoption of a nationwide patient identification strategy, AHIMA recognizes that eliminating patient identification and matching (PIM) errors is essential to better safety and care outcomes. The skills and expertise of health information professionals are essential for building a safer and more effective PIM process. As the healthcare industry advocates for universal PIM standards, patients, care teams, and payers will depend on the health information professionals to create a seamless connection between accurate health information and the right patient, to ensure the integrity of health data, and to safeguard patients’ access to their own healthcare records across all care settings throughout their lifetimes.
We encourage individuals to let their voices be heard through the AHIMA’s Advocacy and Public Policy Center. Learn how you can get involved to advocate on this issue and stay informed about AHIMA’s latest and ongoing efforts to ensure better outcomes for patients.
Bookmark this page as a navigable resource for PIM-related articles, events, and other resources from across the organization and the HIM community.
Patient identification and matching (PIM) is vital to delivery of safe and efficient care, and misidentification errors have been a recurring challenge in healthcare, resulting in administrative inefficiencies, serious injuries, and even death.
There is currently no national strategy requiring collection of certain patient demographic data elements, which can lead to inconsistent, dirty data at the beginning of the patient registration process.
In a Virtual Capitol Hill briefing officials discussed patient identification issues that have cropped up in coronavirus hotspots across the country as a result of faulty data.
AHIMA has taken a lead role in addressing the issue of patient identification at the federal level. As a founding member of a new coalition, Patient ID Now, AHIMA is raising visibility on patient identification with lawmakers, regulators, the media, and other health organizations.
In just a few short months, the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, have put the entire healthcare system under an extraordinary amount of stress.
